Shillen
The Shillen, sometimes called Dark Elves by humans, are a humanoid race native to Morathi. Physiology The Shillen have lived on Morathi for countless millennia, long before humans exited the ice age and developed written records. They are a humanoid species with a striking resemblance to what humans would call ‘elves’. Though the natives call themselves the Shillen, humans have taken to calling them the 'Dark Elves' because it sounds cooler. They are about as tall as a normal human on average, but slimmer overall and slightly weaker in physical strength. However they compensate with greater agility, reflexes, and have great hand-eye coordination. Their skin is a bluish grey skin pigment, and can range from a various shades of blue to monotone shades of light of dark grey. Their hair is varies between silver to black, and of course they have pointy ears. Their most interesting biological feature is that they have very good night vision much like that of a cat. It is believed to have been an evolutionary result of living in an environment where they are mainly under cover of shade or darkness, below the forest canopy and in underground rocky mountain homes. At their current late 1700s style technology levels, the Shillen have an average lifespan of 50 years. However this figure is wildly skewed by significant levels of child mortality. Those that make it past age 15 can expect to live to an average of about 200. There is no doubt that with better healthcare, the average lifespan figure could rocket up to the latter figure. Technology Their technological/scientific level and society is roughly equivalent to late 17th century Europe. They stand on the verge of an industrial revolution and all that entails such as advanced economics and manufacturing. Though most of the Shillen lower classes are poorly educated, the elite upper and middle classes are highly educated and are the driving force of progress. They have discovered gunpowder, and have access to basic gunpowder weaponry such as muskets and cannons. However with so much of their planet being uneven, mountainous and covered in trees it is difficult to find a spot where an army can shoot straight for long ranges. As such melee weaponry is still very prevalent as it is currently more practical, and culturally acceptable to them. Society Dark Elves are a martial warrior race. Shillen are fierce and proud, and their tempers short. Their history is littered with wars as their race is divided into different states often governed by bickering lords and kings. Theirs is a feudal society where the warlords in power determine the fate of countries and are constantly squabbling and fighting over territory. To this end most of the petty kingdoms of Morathi have relatively large standing forces, with at least 10% of the population under arms at any one time. Although they do have gunpowder weapons, the environment of Morathi makes them hard to use and downright impractical for some situations. Medieval style melee combat still makes up the majority of battle, and in any case the shillen prefer melee, because in their culture that’s more honourable. With such a background Shillen grow up taught to be pragmatic, to be wary of the strange and undocumented, and to perform to their utmost in battle and in life. They also expect this out of others around them whether it is from a brother-in-arms or family. If one gains the trust and respect of a Dark Elf, they can be an ally for life. However they have very little time for the incompetent who they will treat with characteristically smug elven disdain. And woe to their enemies, because Shillen can remember grudges for a very long time and will stab them in the back given the chance. The Shillen are a very patriarchal and conservative society which favour men much like 17th century Earth at that time. Though women play many roles in their society, being far more important than women were in Earth’s equivalent time period, they are culturally expected to play a support role and obey their men. Shillen women are fine with this since they don’t know any other cultural norm. With the Shillen frequently fighting each other in war and combat, there are often more women than men in society as the males get killed. As such the dark elves practice polygamy. Each nation as different laws on how many wives are allowed, but generally it is limited in practice to how many a husband can support, or wants to put up with. The super rich have many wives, the middle classes may have two or three, whilst the poor which make up most of the population have one. Military Traditions Though they have access to gunpowder weapons such a muskets, the uneven terrain of their planet makes massed armies of line infantry in open field combat impractical. The gun is generally seen as the weapon of a sniper or the defender, replacing the stereotypical elven bows. Small teams of musketmen are used to harass and skirmish with enemy troops out in the field, whilst guns are used in defense of settlements where the firearm can be more easily accommodated into plans. Though the dark elves are pragmatic and will use long range firearms, they maintain a cultural distaste for range fighting and accord greater honour to melee battles. Despite the undoubted usefulness of firearms, Shillen generally keep close range weapons close at hand. Being a martial culture, one of their favourite pastimes is visiting the gladiatorial arena to see spectacles of combat. The fights can be anything, from relatively benign reenactments of past battles, to fighting tournaments, to bloody duels to the death between rivals. Other races may recoil at the brutal pastime that the Shillen have, but to them these violent shows count as family entertainment. Clothing One notable thing about Shillen is their clothing. Because their world has so many tall trees covering the forest floor, it is a lot harder for smaller shrubs such as cotton plants - necessary to mass produce cloth - to grow. Most of the cultivable farmland is used for foodstuffs as well. But the planet has abundant animal life, and their mountainous lands are mineral rich. As such their fashion tends to have a lot of metal and leather involved, with dark colours preferred. Male fashions tend to involve more metal and spikier clothes. Female fashion can be pretty skimpy and favours showing cleavage, skin, leather straps and thongs. The women are not shy about their sexuality or beauty, and will opening dress provocatively to flaunt their figures. Religion Religion is the more often than not the only thing which the Shillen dark elves can agree upon without fighting. It is the chief unifying force which transcends boundaries and offers a degree of stability. When lords and kings need a third party to arrange a ceasefire, it’ll always be a priestess called a ‘gatekeeper’ which acts as the referee andnegotiator. The Shillen have a complex pantheon of gods and goddesses. There’s generally one or two for every situation, with the most important two being Einhasad the goddess of life and creation, and Gran Kain the god of death and destruction, who sort of fill the role of Yin and Yang from Earth Taoism. The Shillen pantheon is a global religion, and through the gatekeepers of the spiritual world wields enormous influence despite having no true military. Category:Sapient Species